Numbers 11:18

11:18 “And say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves1 for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing2 of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat,3 for life4 was good for us in Egypt?” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat.

1tn The Hitpael is used to stress that they are to prepare for a holy appearance. The day was going to be special and so required their being set apart for it. But it is a holy day in the sense of the judgment that was to follow.

3tn Possibly this could be given an optative translation, to reflect the earlier one: “O that someone would give….” But the verb is not the same; here it is the Hiphil of the verb “to eat” – “who will make us eat” (i.e., provide meat for us to eat).

4tn The word “life” is not in the text. The expression is simply “it was for us,” or “we had good,” meaning “we had it good,” or “life was good.”